Distributed method and system for calibrating the position of a mobile device

ABSTRACT

A method and system is described where a plurality of position reference devices use short-range wireless communication protocols to transmit positioning assistance data to nearby mobile devices, and the mobile devices use the assistance data to re-calibrate their positioning systems. In some embodiments, mobile device includes an accelerometer and the accelerometer measurements are used to calculate an updated velocity of the mobile device and an updated position of the mobile device based on the accelerometer measurements and previous velocity and position of the mobile device. The short-range communication methods include NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®, short-range 802.11, Wi-Fi Direct, and high frequency focused beams such as 60 GHz. The position reference devices are passive or active NFC tags, passive or active RFID tags, other devices that include such tags as their components, Bluetooth®-enabled devices, 60 GHz-enabled devices, and 802.11 access points that can lower their transmit power.

CLAIM OF BENEFIT TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS

The present Application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/556,809, entitled “Distributed Method and Systemfor Calibrating the Position of a Mobile Device,” filed Jul. 24, 2012,published as U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0029686. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/556,809 claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application 61/511,963, entitled, “Distributed Method and Systemfor Calibrating the Position of a Mobile Device,” filed Jul. 26, 2011.The contents of U.S. Provisional application 61/511,963 and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/556,809, published as U.S. Patent Publication2013-0029686 are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Portable communication devices such as cell phones are becomingincreasingly pervasive as their costs have come down and theirfunctionalities have increased. Throughout this Specification the terms“cell phone”, “cellular phone”, “mobile phone”, “smart phone” and“wireless phone” are used interchangeably. Such devices provide mobileusers with the convenience to have voice calls from most locations usinga number of standards such as code division multiple access (CDMA), Timedivision multiple access (TDMA), cellular second generation (2G),cellular third generation (3G), and cellular fourth generation (4G).Phone users with data plans can use their cell phone to send/receiveemail, check their calendar, browse the Internet, upload/downloadcontent, and store contact information and other data.

Other mobile devices such as personal digital assistant (PDA), laptop,tablet, digital/video camera, video game player, wireless headset,wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, pager, external hard drive, toy,electronic book reader, sensor, CD/DVD/cassette/MP-3 player, electronicappliance are also becoming popular. Throughout this Specification theterm mobile device is used to apply to cellular phones as well as othermobile devices examples of which are given in this paragraph. Mostmobile devices are now equipped with still image and video cameras andcan take pictures and videos. High-end mobile devices are also computingdevices that can download and run dedicated applications. Many mobiledevices also support other wireless standards such as Near FieldCommunication (NFC), WLAN 802.11* (also called Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi Direct,Bluetooth®, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), 60 GHz, andUltra-wideband (UWB) standards.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short-range wireless technology thatoperates at 13.56 MHz and involves a reader (sometimes referred to asthe “initiator”) and a tag (sometimes referred to as the “target”) thatare in close proximity to each other; typically 10 cm or less. NFCtypically transfers data at 106 kbps, 212 kbps, and 424 kbps. NFC tagsstore data in their memory that can be read by an NFC reader anddisplayed with an appropriate application such as a web browser, emailclient, etc. Tag capabilities vary depending on the size of theirmemory, communication speed, security, and data retention. The memorysize is typically of the order of 512 bytes or less. The stored data canrepresent personal contacts, credit card information, personalidentification numbers (PINs), rewards data, etc. The information storedin an NFC tag is usually read-only data that is provided by themanufacturer or encoded by the customer according to the NFC standard.Some tags however are rewritable.

Two NFC enabled devices have to be within a few centimeters of eachother in order to communicate because NFC uses inductive coupling (alsoreferred to as electromagnetic coupling) between the loop antennas ofthe NFC reader and the NFC tag. This short range reduces the possibilityof malicious attacks and makes NFC ideal for electronic payment andticketing applications. There are two main NFC communication modes;reader-writer NFC mode (also called the passive mode) and Peer-to-Peer(P2P) NFC mode (also called the active mode). In the reader-writer modean NFC device reads an NFC tag or a device that is emulating a card.With this mode the reader provides an electromagnetic field and the tagresponds by modulating and backscattering. Passive NFC tags communicatein this mode and therefore do not require batteries since they extracttheir power from the electromagnetic field of the reader. As a result,passive NFC tags can be low-cost tags, stickers and cards. In the P2PNFC mode two NFC devices create a connection to share some information.In this mode the reader and the tag each have their own power source andcommunicate in a P2P fashion, where each device generates its own field.In the P2P mode each device can also turn off its RF field (by turningoff the power to its antenna circuits and coils) while the device isreceiving or expecting to receive data. Active NFC tags operate in thismode and therefore require their own power, which results in morecomplexity and cost.

NFC offers some advantages over other short-range wireless communicationstandards, such as Bluetooth®. Unlike Bluetooth®, NFC does not requirediscovery, pairing, and menus. NFC also consumes less power thanBluetooth®, but operates at slower speeds. NFC devices just activate byclose proximity. The simplicity and low-cost of NFC has potential formany applications. The NFC Forum was formed in 2004 and was charged withpromoting NFC standards, applications, and devices. The NFC Forum hasdefined the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) which is a binary format forstoring and exchanging records of objects. These objects vary fromMultipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) types to short documentssuch as uniform resource locators (URLs). For example, an NFC tag canhold a URL object that points to a server serving a document, businesscard, video, music, location, or map with location, etc. A shopper canplace his/her NFC device near an NFC tag on a retail poster and receivecoupons. A person can place his/her NFC device near an NFC tag andreceive an audio or video presentation at a retail display or museumexhibit. A user can place his/her NFC device near the NFC device ofanother person to share a file, music, video, application, URL, businesscard, etc. An NFC device can touch a cashier's payment terminal andenter a pin to make a credit card type payment. NFC devices can also beused as ID cards that store personal information such as employment ormedical data.

RFID is a tagging technology that uses radio waves to transferinformation between RFID readers and RFID tags. The tags are typicallyattached to objects in order to identify and track them. RFID alsooperates in passive and active communication mode. RFID, however, has agreater range compared to NFC. The range of an RFID system depends onthe frequency of its devices and the communication mode. In the activecommunication mode the tag has its own power source and the range can befrom 10 centimeters up to 200 meters. In the passive communication modethe tag obtains its power from the RFID reader and the range ofoperation is a few meters.

The Bluetooth® standard provides short-range P2P connections betweenmobile devices. A Bluetooth® network is made up of small subnets orpiconets. The latest standard is the Bluetooth® 4.0 standard which usesAES 128-bit encryption and claims speeds of 25 Mbps. The range ofBluetooth® is dependent on power and Bluetooth®-class and is typicallyof the order of 3 to 100 meters. Ultra-Wideband is another short rangestandard with a range of 10 to 20 meters.

Wi-Fi Direct is also a new standard from the Wi-Fi alliance that has amaximum range of over 200 meters and allows a mobile device to advertiseitself as a combination of software access point and peer. Thus, amobile device with Wi-Fi Direct can have a P2P connection to anothermobile device while having a wireless LAN connection to aninfrastructure network via an access point. The standard is easier toconfigure than previous ad-hoc methods and claims regular Wi-Fi speedsof up to 250 Mbps. It also provides security with WPA2 encryption andWPS (Wi-Fi Protection Setup) secure key handling. Wi-Fi Direct improveson the earlier WLAN 802.11 Ad-hoc by providing better interoperabilityand ease-of-use. IEEE 802.11z “Direct Link Setup” is also the 802.11Working Group's take on improving ad hoc connections. The terms WLAN,802.11 and Wi-Fi refer to the same set of wireless standards are usedinterchangeably in this Specification.

Another option for providing short-range communication is to use highfrequencies. There are several standards bodies that are using highfrequencies, such as 60 GHz. Examples of these include WirelessHD,WiGig, and Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11ad. Other short-range, high frequencystandards are also supported by different mobile devices. In the U.S.the 60 GHz spectrum band can be used for unlicensed short-range datalinks (1.7 km) with data throughputs up to 2.5 Gbits/s. Higherfrequencies such as the 60 GHz spectrum experience strong free spaceattenuation. The smaller wavelength of such high frequencies alsoenables the use of small high gain antennas with small beam widths. Thecombination of high attenuation and high directive antenna beamsprovides better frequency reuse so that the spectrum is used moreefficiently for point-to-multipoint communications. For example, alarger number of directive antennas and users can be present in a givenarea without interfering with one another. Small beam width directiveantennas also confine the electromagnetic waves to a smaller space andlimit human exposure. The higher frequencies also provide more bandwidthand allow more information to be wirelessly transmitted.

Short-range Wi-Fi (or short-range 802.11) is another short-rangecommunication method. For example a Wi-Fi access point can have twotransmission powers; one for wireless connectivity and a lower power forposition assistance data. The lower transmit power reduces the range soonly nearby mobile devices receive data. Alternatively, the access pointcan use a higher frequency for transmitting the data. For example, theWi-Fi and WiGig Alliances have agreed on a new Wi-Fi standard in the 60GHz band for high speed (7 Gbps) short-range (about 10 meters) wirelesscommunication. The previous two methods could also be implemented withthe access point having a separate transceiver/communicator forshort-range communication versus standard longer-range Wi-Ficonnectivity.

Mobile devices use a number of different techniques that use wirelesssignals and process them into a location estimate. Typical informationused for positioning includes Global Positioning System (GPS) signals,Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), single trip or round-tripTime Of Arrival (TOA), Time Difference Of Arrival (TDOA), Angle OfArrival (AOA), and Doppler shift. Triangulation is a common method wheremultiple range or angle measurements from known positions are used tocalculate the position of a device. These techniques are complementarysince some methods are more suited for indoor settings while others aremore reliable in outdoor settings.

There are however a number of sources of errors in wireless positioningmethods. One of the sources of errors is multipath propagation, whichoccurs when a signal takes different paths when propagating from asource to a destination receiver. While the signal is traveling objectsget in the way and cause the signal to bounce in different directionsbefore getting to the receiver. As a result, some of the signal aredelayed and travel longer paths to the receiver. In other instancesthere is no direct line of sight because an object is completelyblocking and any received signals occur only due to multipathpropagation. Radio frequency (RF) signal amplitude is also greatlyaffected by metal objects, reflective surfaces, multipath, dead-spots,noise and interference. These effects cause errors in GPS data, RSSI,AOA, TOA, TDOA and Doppler shift. For example, time delays such as TOAand TDOA represent the longer multipath distance rather than the actualdistance between the transmitter and the receiver. The longer multipathpropagations also result in smaller signal amplitude indicators such asRSSI, as well as incorrect values for AOA and Doppler shifts. Othersources of positioning errors are clock drift, synchronization errors,and measurement errors. These errors cause incorrect mobile positioncalculations for traditional location techniques.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Some embodiments provide a method of determining the position of amobile device. The method receives positioning assistance data from ashort-range position reference device. The positioning assistance dataincludes the position of the position reference device. The method setsthe position of the mobile station to the position of the positionreference device.

In some embodiments, the mobile device includes an accelerometer. Themethod reads the accelerometer measurement after setting the position.The method calculates an updated velocity and an updated position of themobile device based on the accelerometer measurement, a previousvelocity of the mobile device, and a previous position of the mobiledevice. In some embodiments, the method receives positioning assistancedata from another short-range position reference device. The positioningassistance data includes a position of the other position referencedevice. The method sets the position of the mobile station to theposition of the other position reference device. The method reads theaccelerometer measurement after a predetermined time delay from settingthe position of the mobile device to the position of the other positionreference device and calculates an updated velocity and an updatedposition of the mobile device based on the accelerometer measurement, aprevious velocity of the mobile device, and a previous position of themobile device.

In some embodiments the mobile device receives positioning assistancedata from the short-range position reference devices by using one ormore of near field communication (NFC), radio frequency identification(RFID), Bluetooth®, short-range Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and high frequencynarrow beam including 60 GHz. The mobile device in different embodimentsis a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop, atablet, a digital video camera, a video game player, a wireless headset,a wireless mouse, a wireless keyboard, a pager, an external hard drive,a toy, an electronic book reader, a sensor, a CD/DVD/cassette/MP-3player, an electronic appliance, or an automobile.

The positioning assistance data includes the position reference device(ID), a type of the position reference device, an indication whether theposition reference device is stationary or moving, a short-rangecommunication protocol supported by the position reference device andits associated transmission power level, a pre-stored or calculatedposition, information of the position reference device, a timestamp forwhen a reference position associated with the position reference devicewas calibrated, and position assistance data for a set of positioningmethods supported by the position reference device.

The mobile device in some embodiments includes a graphical userinterface which enables the user of the mobile phone to choose settingsto customize the positioning re-calibration such as disabling orenabling positioning re-calibration, manual or automatic re-calibration,list of approved or disapproved reference points, types of referencepoints to use (stationary, moving, NFC type, etc.), times/dates andplaces for re-calibration, and weights for combining differentpositioning methods to get a final combined position.

Some embodiments provide a method of determining a location of a mobiledevice. The method receives positioning assistance data from severalshort-range position reference devices. The positioning assistance datafrom each position reference device includes the location of thecorresponding position reference device. The method calculates aweighted sum of the locations of the position reference devices. Thelocations are weighted based on a set of criteria. The method sets thelocation of the mobile station to the calculated weighted sum of thelocations of the position reference devices. The set of criteria is usedto weight the location of each position reference device based on theshort-range communication protocol or how far they are from the mobiledevice (higher weights are given to shorter-range protocols and closerreference points). If the reference devices are moving the weights insome embodiments also take into account how recently the referencedevices were calibrated. In some embodiments, higher weights are givento more recently calibrated moving reference points.

Some embodiments provide a method of determining location of a mobiledevice that has several different radio types. Each radio uses adifferent communication protocol. The method receives a group of signalsthrough each radio and determines the location of the mobile device fromthe group of signals that are received through each radio by using apositioning method corresponding to each radio. The method sets thelocation of the mobile device to a computed weighted sum of thedetermined locations. The method then receives positioning assistancedata from a short-range position reference device. The positioningassistance data include the location of the position reference device.The method calibrates each positioning method such that the locationdetermined by the method is a same as the location received from theposition reference device. In some embodiments, the method receives agroup of signals through each radio after a predetermined time delayfrom calibrating each positioning method. The method determines thelocation of the mobile device from the group of signals received througheach radio after the time delay using the positioning methodcorresponding to each radio. The method sets the position of the mobiledevice to a computed weighted sum of the determined locations. In someembodiments, setting the location of the mobile device to the computedweighted sum of the determined positions includes weighting eachdetermined location based on a confidence measure for the correspondingpositioning method.

In some embodiments, longer-distance reference points are ignored. Insome of these embodiments the mobile device is proactive and explicitlyignores distant reference points. For instance, if the power levelreceived from an access point has dropped by a certain amount then therange is too far and its reference position is ignored by the mobile.Alternatively, the access point is proactive and adjusts its referenceposition transmission so that they are limited to a short range (e.g., 1to 2 meters). Some embodiments utilize a weighting scheme as a moregeneral formulation where small weights are given to distant accesspoints. Ignoring the distant references is a special case where a weightof 0 is given to distant reference points and a weight of 1 is given tothe nearby access points. Some embodiments use short-range communicationwith a nearby position reference point to find out an accurate positionand use that to calibrate a longer-range positioning methods such asGPS, WLAN, cellular, etc.

The preceding Summary is intended to serve as a brief introduction tosome embodiments of the invention. It is not meant to be an introductionor overview of all inventive subject matter disclosed in this document.The Detailed Description that follows and the Drawings that are referredto in the Detailed Description will further describe the embodimentsdescribed in the Summary as well as other embodiments. Accordingly, tounderstand all the embodiments described by this document, a full reviewof the Summary, Detailed Description and the Drawings is needed.Moreover, the claimed subject matters are not to be limited by theillustrative details in the Summary, Detailed Description and theDrawing, but rather are to be defined by the appended claims, becausethe claimed subject matters can be embodied in other specific formswithout departing from the spirit of the subject matters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features of the invention are set forth in the appendedclaims. However, for purpose of explanation, several embodiments of theinvention are set forth in the following figures.

FIG. 1 conceptually illustrates a block diagram of a mobile phone withshort-range and long-range communication radios in some embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 2 conceptually illustrates several scenarios of using short-rangewireless communication to transmit position assistance data from areference device to a mobile device in a geographic area that hasmultiple wireless networks in some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates a vehicle navigation application in someembodiments of the invention where a user with a mobile device is insidea moving vehicle and position reference devices are distributed near theroad on traffic signals, tollbooths, lamp posts, etc.

FIG. 4 illustrates a mobile device that uses a position reference todisplay its accurate location on a map in some embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 5 conceptually illustrates a process that calculates the positionof a mobile device by using the mobile device accelerometer and datafrom nearby position reference devices in some embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 6 conceptually illustrates using position reference devices toprovide positioning assistance information and correct problems indetermining position by using time of arrival of signals in someembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 conceptually illustrates a process that calculates the positionof a mobile device by using WLAN signals and calibrating its WLANpositioning with nearby position reference devices in some embodimentsof the invention.

FIG. 8 conceptually illustrates positioning with assistance dataprovided by the short-range communicator of position reference wirelessaccess points in some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 conceptually illustrates a process that calculates the positionof a mobile device by using multiple positioning methods and calibratingthem with nearby position reference devices in some embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 10 conceptually illustrates a mobile device that receives positionand assistance data from several position references with differentshort-range communication methods and different calibration time-stamps,and gives different weights to them in some embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 11 conceptually illustrates a process for combining assistance datafrom several reference devices, calibrating a mobile device'spositioning methods and computing a combined position in someembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 12 conceptually illustrates a mobile device that receivesassistance data from a reference device indirectly through anotherdevice in some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 13 conceptually illustrates an electronic system with which someembodiments of the invention are implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description of the invention, numerousdetails, examples, and embodiments of the invention are set forth anddescribed. However, it will be clear and apparent to one skilled in theart that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth andthat the invention may be practiced without some of the specific detailsand examples discussed.

A method and system is described where one or more position referencedevices use short-range wireless communication protocols to transmitpositioning assistance data to nearby mobile devices, and the mobiledevices use the assistance data to model errors and re-calibrate theirpositioning systems. The short-range communication methods include NFC,RFID, Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, short-range 802.11, and highfrequency focused beams such as 60 GHz. The high frequency standardsinclude WirelessHD, WiGig, and Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11ad. Some embodiments ofthe invention support other short-range high frequency standards.

The position reference devices are either passive or active NFC tags,passive or active RFID tags, other devices that include such tags astheir components, Bluetooth®-enabled devices, 60 GHz-enabled devices,and 802.11 access points that are able to lower their transmit power.The reference devices in some embodiments are located at various indoorand outdoor locations such as smart posters, kiosks, ATM machines,malls, store checkout counters, store security gates, wireless accesspoints, cellular base-stations, tollbooths, traffic lights, and streetlamp posts. While most position reference devices are fixed in location,others are moving but are such that they have accurate positioning. Theposition reference devices are typically small and low cost. The mobiledevices whose position are to be determined are consumer devices such asa cell phone, PDA, laptop, tablet, digital/video camera, video gameplayer, wireless headset, wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, pager,external hard drive, toy, electronic book reader, sensor,CD/DVD/cassette/MP-3 player, electronic appliance, or an automobile.

FIG. 1 conceptually illustrates a block diagram of a mobile phone 100with short-range and long-range communication radios in some embodimentsof the invention. Although the examples and illustrations describe amobile phone the invention is applicable to a variety of consumerelectronics devices, some of which were listed above. In FIG. 1 some ofthe blocks and radios are optional and are found in more advanced smartphones. The figure shows several wireless radio modules with antenna 135that transmit and receive electromagnetic waves, and basebandtransceivers 140 that process the information. Thus, in addition to thecellular radio 105, the mobile phone has different range radios such asGPS 110, Bluetooth® 115, 802.11 (Wi-Fi) 120, 60 GHz 122 withbeam-forming 125, RFID (not shown in the figure), etc. These radiosshare the same antenna or use separate antennas in differentembodiments. Mobile devices that are cellular phones include thecellular radio 105, while other mobile devices may not include cellularradio but include one or more short-range radios and/or NFC.

As shown, a processor 150 controls the radios and uses their datatogether with a position engine 180 to calculate the location of themobile phone 100. The mobile phone also has an accelerometer 155 foraccelerometer-based positioning. The mobile phone has an NFCcommunicator 160 that obtains its power 168 from the phone battery 145and includes NFC components 162 and memory 162, NFC antenna circuits 164and one or more coils 165. The NFC communicator 160 is used to read NFCtags, barcodes, smart cards, and interface with electronic paymentsystems in some embodiments.

The NFC communicator 160 is also used to obtain positioning assistancedata from nearby NFC reference devices. Positioning assistance datastorage 183 stores positioning assistance data received from nearbyreferences devices. The assistance data is processed by the positionengine 180 to obtain positioning error models and correction data, whichare used to obtain more accurate positions for the mobile phone. Thememory 130 has read-only-memory (ROM) for program storage and randomaccess memory (RAM) for running programs. The operating system 182(shown with several other software components and applications)interfaces the hardware with the user and manages resources.

Input devices 185 of the mobile phone include keyboard and/or touchscreen, microphone, and a camera photo-sensor for still pictures andvideo. Output devices 185 of the mobile phone include a display,speaker, and wired or wireless headsets. The mobile phone has asubscriber identity (or identification) module (SIM) card 190 and anumber of dedicated software components and applications such as email,instant messenger, chat, SMS, social networking, and camera. The mobilephone also has a web server 182 and browser 182 that can browseinformation on the intranet/Internet and download other applications anddata from the network. There is a bus 192 that links all thesecomponents with the processor 150 and 130 memory.

In FIG. 1 the mobile device is in close proximity to a passive NFC tag170. The tag has one or more coils 172, NFC antenna circuits 174, andNFC components and memory 175. The mobile device's NFC communicatorprovides an electromagnetic field. The tag extracts its power from theelectromagnetic field and responds by modulating it and backscattering.In some embodiments the NFC tag encrypts its data. The encryption insome embodiments is a simple table lookup that is stored in the tag'smemory. Alternatively, the tag in some embodiments points to a serverfor encryption purposes. FIG. 1 shows an example of a reader-writer NFCmode of communication. Examples of P2P NFC mode of communication arewhere the mobile device communicates with an active tag or with the NFCcommunicator of another nearby mobile device.

I. Short-Range Wireless Position Assistance

FIG. 2 conceptually illustrates several scenarios of using short-rangewireless communication to transmit position assistance data from areference device to a mobile device in a geographic area that hasmultiple wireless networks in some embodiments of the invention. Thenetworks 205 include GPS, cellular, WLAN 802.11, Bluetooth®, WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), UWB, HD Radio™, 60 GHz,and NFC. Each type of network can also have different implementations.For instance, the WLAN 802.11 standard can include 802.11b, 802.11a,802.11g, and 802.11n. The cellular network can include Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA), CDMA2000, Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Time DivisionMultiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), andother multiple access techniques.

The networked position server 270 performs a range of functions such asmonitoring, storing, computing, and transmitting position-relatedinformation. For example, the position server in some embodimentsstores/computes/transmits information such as the position of a subsetof the access points, the position of some of the reference points, andposition assistance data. In some embodiments the position serverreceives data from the access points, from the reference points, and/orfrom the mobile devices and computes the position of a mobile device andtransmits the computed position back to the mobile. The position servermonitors the position of some of the moving devices and updates itsstorage data and transmits the updated information in some embodiments.In other embodiments, the position server stores and transmits mappinginformation such as outdoor maps, indoor maps of malls, and indoor isleand layout maps of stores. In yet other embodiments, the position servercoordinates a number of access points for locating a mobile device. Forinstance, the position server synchronizes the access points and theirtiming.

There are users in this area that are carrying mobile devices, such asthose of FIG. 1, that have one or more wireless transceivers and usesuch networks for communication and positioning. The communication canbe downlink from the network base-stations (satellites 250, accesspoints 260-265 (e.g., WLAN access points), cellular towers/base-stations255, etc.) to the mobile device, or the uplink direction from the mobiledevice to the base-stations. All positioning methods have some errorsthat are caused by factors such as obstacles, reflections, time delay,and phase measurement errors. Thus, it is important to provide accurateposition reference points for position assistance data and errorcorrection.

FIG. 2 illustrates some scenarios of using short-range wirelesscommunication to transmit position assistance data from a positionreference to a mobile device. Although the examples in the figure areshown as mobile phones, other mobile devices are also used in someembodiments. FIG. 2 user 1 brings his mobile phone 210 near a passiveNFC tag 215 that is embedded in a stand 245 such as a kiosk, ATMmachine, or smart poster.

The position of the NFC tag 215 has previously been measured accuratelyusing commercial grade GPS or surveying techniques. This position isthen written to the memory of the tag. The NFC tag 215 could also beactive if it has its own power source or uses the power source of thestand. For the passive tag case, however, the mobile phone 210 usesinduction to power up the tag and the tag responds and transmitsinformation to the NFC communicator of the phone. The transmittedinformation includes the accurate position coordinates of the tag. TheNFC communicator transfers this information to the processor of themobile phone. The phone's processor and position engine then use thatinformation to re-calibrate the positioning methods of the phone asdescribed further below.

In FIG. 2, user 2 comes in close proximity to user 5 who is carryinganother mobile phone with an accurate positioning method. User 2 bringshis mobile phone 220 near user 5's mobile phone 225 and receives theposition of that phone and other position assistance data with ashort-range protocol such as P2P NFC, Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi Direct, 60 GHz,etc. User 2's mobile phone 220 then uses that information for positionre-calibration. This is an example of a moving position reference point,where even though the position of user 5's phone is changing it mighthave positioning hardware and software. For example, user 2's phone mayonly have GPS positioning and its GPS receiver may not be sensitiveenough to receive GPS signals at that location, whereas user 5's phonehas a more sensitive GPS radio or it has non-GPS positioning methodsthat user 2's phone does not have.

Alternatively, user 5's mobile phone 225 might have been recentlyre-calibrated using another fixed location or moving reference point. Insome embodiments, a position reference device such as user 5's phonealso transmits the date and timestamp when its positioning method(s)was/were calibrated. This is important when the reference point ismoving because some positioning errors compound over time. User 2'sphone may then choose to ignore the reference position and assistancedata if the calibration date/time is not recent.

In FIG. 2 user 3 with his mobile phone 230 comes near access point 1(AP1) 265 that is a position reference and has a short-range wirelesscommunicator. This communicator can be based on NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®,short-range Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, or high frequency narrow beam methodssuch as 60 GHz. AP1's position has been previously measured usingaccurate commercial methods and stored in AP1. The access point in someembodiments vary the transmit power of its communicator in order toadjust its range. For instance, if its communicator is using NFC then itcan increase the transmit power so users do not have to come very closeto it to receive position reference data. Likewise, if its communicatoris using 802.11 it can lower the transmit power of the assistance datatransmission so that only mobile devices that are in close proximity ofthe access point receive the assistance data.

The criteria for adjusting the transmit power of an access point'scommunicator is detection that a user is within a pre-specifiedacceptable distance (e.g., 1 meter or less) from the access point, forthe access point to transfer its reference position information andposition assistance data. For instance, when mobile device 230 is within1 meter of access point 265 and requests reference position information,the access point receives the request. The mobile device in someembodiments also includes its transmission power level in the request.The access point looks at the power level of the mobile device's requestsignal that it receives and compares it to the transmission power levelto determine that the mobile is within 1 meters of the access point, andadjusts its transmission power so mobile device 230 receives and acceptsthe reference position information. For example, the access pointincreases the transmission power of its NFC communicator to increase itsrange to 1 meter and uses the NFC communicator to transfer the referenceposition information.

Alternatively, access point 265 uses its 802.11 communicator and adjuststhe transmission power to its 802.11 communicator such that the mobiledevice 230 receives a strong enough signal but mobiles that are furtheraway than 1 meter (such as mobile devices 240, 225, 220, and 210),receive signal powers that are below acceptable levels. Access point 265only lowers the 802.11 transmission range for its position referencedata, and its other information transfer such as Internet access occurat normal higher power levels and larger distance coverage. In someembodiments the mobile device is proactive and performs calculations todetermine if the mobile device is close enough to an access point toaccept its reference position information. For example, mobile device230 requests and receives reference position information from the 802.11communicator of access point 265. The access point also transfers itstransmission power level to the mobile device. The mobile device thencompares the power of the received signal with the power level of thetransmission from the access point and accepts the reference positioninformation only if the mobile device determines that it is close enoughin distance to the access point (for example, the received power at themobile is −20 dBm from the access point's maximum transmission power,and at the 802.11 transmitted frequency the −20 dBm power dropcorrespond to a travel distance of 1 meter or less).

In FIG. 2 user 4 also passes through a store's security gate 235, whichis a position reference and has a short-range communicator. The store'ssecurity gate uses its communicator to transmit amongst other things itsposition and position assistance data to the mobile phone 240 of user 4.

FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates a vehicle navigation application in someembodiments of the invention, where a user with a mobile device isinside a moving vehicle and position reference devices are distributednear the road on traffic signals, tollbooths, lamp posts, etc. In someembodiments, the vehicle navigation system includes GPS using orbitingsatellites 340. In some embodiments, the vehicle navigation systemincludes (in addition to the GPS or in lieu of the GPS), other wirelesspositioning methods of a mobile device such as a phone or a laptop or atablet that is inside the car. The other wireless positioning methodsinclude different short-range positioning methods (e.g., Wi-Fi)described throughout this Specification. The figure shows higher powerposition references with higher range for vehicle applications. Thereference devices are connected to a network 335 and communicate with anetworked position server 345. The position server stores data, performsposition calculations, coordinates and synchronizes the clocks ofreference points and access points (not shown), and downloads or uploadsinformation.

In FIG. 3, the position reference devices are low-cost off-the-shelfdevices that utilize widely used short-range protocols (e.g., NFC,Bluetooth®, RFID, 802.11, etc.) that are in many consumer electronicdevices. Therefore, the position reference devices not only calibratethe GPS positioning of the car's built-in navigation system, but alsothe GPS positioning as well as Wi-Fi or other wireless positioningmethods of other mobile devices such as phone, laptop, tablet, etc.,that is inside the car. Also, the positioning method in some embodimentsis an absolute correction method because absolute position is provided.This is in contrast to differential correction methods such asdifferential GPS (DGPS).

The wireless communication methods used by the position referencedevices include NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®, short-range Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct,and high frequency narrow beam methods such as 60 GHz. However, thereference devices adjust their power and frequency in order to increasetheir range for longer range scenarios such as vehicle applications. Therange of any type of radio modules can be increased or decreased bychanging the transmit power. The accuracy of the reference position datais a function of the range, and the range is a function of the protocoland the transmit power used for that protocol. For example, a referencedevice can use an external high power source, such as an AC poweroutlet, for its NFC communicator so higher power can be provided to theNFC antenna circuits 174 and coil 172 (shown in FIG. 1), therebyextending the range of the reference device's NFC to a few meters. Theexternal power supply can also be used to extend the transmission powerand range of other wireless communicators of the reference device (RFID,Bluetooth®, short-range Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and 60 GHz). In somealternative embodiments wireless signal boosters are installed near aposition reference device to increase the ranges of the wirelesscommunicators of the position reference device. Thus, when the user isnear the traffic signal 330 reference position and assistance data aretransmitted from the traffic signal's NFC communicator 305 to the NFCcommunicator of the user's mobile device 310.

The user's mobile device 310 uses the information to re-calibrate itsposition and positioning methods at that point. As the car 315 movesaway the user's mobile device 310 uses its own re-calibrated positioningmethods to calculate its position and give direction guidance if needed.The car then stops at a tollbooth 320. The NFC device 325 of thetollbooth transmits its reference position and assistance data to themobile device of the user. The mobile device uses the information tore-calibrate its position and positioning methods again. The car thenmoves away and the user's mobile device uses its re-calibratedpositioning methods. This process is repeated as the mobile device ofthe user receives other reference position and assistance data. Themobile device in some embodiments is a fixed component of the car suchas its navigation system.

The reference device can transmit its position in different formats,such as GPS coordinates or a URL object. The URL in some embodimentspoints to a map server with the reference position. Thus, in FIG. 2 andFIG. 3 the mobile devices of the users who receive a reference positionare able to use a browser to display the current reference position, asshown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 illustrates a mobile device that uses a position reference todisplay its accurate location on a map in some embodiments of theinvention. As shown, the mobile device 400 displays a map 410 andidentifies the current location of the mobile device 405 on the map. Themobile device then re-calibrates its positioning methods until a newposition reference is found for re-calibration. The display is part of agraphical user interface of the mobile device. As described herein,several processes and programs in different embodiments receive setupsand commands through the graphical user interface (e.g., from keyboard,touchscreen, audio input, pointing devices, etc.) and provide positioninformation (e.g., on the display, through voice output, by electronicmessaging, etc.)

II. Accelerometer Positioning Re-Calibration Using Short-Range WirelessPosition Assistance

Accelerometers are electromechanical devices that measure inertia andacceleration forces. Acceleration forces are either static like gravity,or are dynamic forces that are caused by movement and/or vibration. Itis possible to find a device's tilt angle with respect to the earth bymeasuring the amount of static acceleration due to gravity. It is alsopossible to calculate the way a device is moving by sensing dynamicacceleration.

An accelerometer is used in some embodiments to calculate futureposition information if it is given an initial starting position. Thestarting position in some embodiments is obtained by a nearby referencedevice. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with time andvelocity is the rate of change of position with time. Thus, accelerationis the derivative of velocity with respect to time and velocity is thederivative of position with respect to time. If the acceleration of amobile device is known, in the absence of errors, its position isdetermined by a double integral with respect to time, where the firstintegration provides the velocity and the second integration providesthe position. In practice errors accumulate over time, which needcorrection. Accelerometer positioning are therefore used in someembodiments over short time intervals and for longer time intervalsrequires the frequent use of nearby position references to reset theaccumulated errors to zero.

One technique that is used in some embodiments to reduce random noisefor accelerometer positioning is Kalman filtering. Kalman filtering is awell-known technique that uses time dependent probability theory. It isa statistical method that combines knowledge of the statistical natureof system errors with knowledge about the dynamics of the system toprovide an estimate of the state of the system. In a positioningapplication the state of the system can be represented by position andvelocity. Kalman filtering uses a Kalman gain weighting function toreduce the error covariance for update estimates. One of the sources oferrors is accelerometer bias. A Kalman filter estimates the bias andremoves it from any measured acceleration.

FIG. 5 conceptually illustrates a process 500 that calculates theposition of a mobile device by using the mobile device accelerometer anddata from nearby position reference devices in some embodiments of theinvention. The wireless communication methods used by the positionreference devices include short-range protocols such as NFC, RFID,Bluetooth®, short-range Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, high frequency narrow beammethods such as 60 GHz, etc. The position calculations are performed,e.g., by the mobile device position engine 180 and processor 150. Tosimplify the discussions, it is assumed that the accelerometer ispreviously calibrated such that when the mobile device is not moving theoutput reading of its accelerometer represents zero acceleration. Higherreadings represent acceleration and lower readings representdeceleration. This calibration is performed at the manufacturer site insome embodiments. In other embodiments, the accelerometer calibration isperformed by the user when the mobile device is stationary and near aposition reference device.

When the mobile device comes in close proximity to a position referencedevice, process 500 receives (at 505) position assistance informationfrom the position reference device through a short-range wirelessprotocol. The position assistance information transmitted by thereference device in some embodiments includes one or more of thereference device identification (ID), general information such as itstype and whether it is stationary or moving, its short-rangecommunication protocol and associated transmission power level, itspre-stored or calculated position information, the timestamp for whenits own reference position was calibrated, and position assistance datafor different methods such as GPS, Wi-Fi, etc.

The process then checks the received information and determines (at 510)whether to use the received information for position re-calibration.This decision in some embodiments is based on the settings of the mobiledevice, which the user changes with a graphical user interface. Forinstance, the user is given the option to disable or enable positioningre-calibration. In some embodiments, the user has the option to specifythat he/she only wants re-calibration to be performed at certain timesof the day, or on certain days of the week, month, year, etc. The useralso has the option to specify that he/she wants position re-calibrationto be performed at certain places, such as towns, malls, etc. The userhas the option to make the re-calibration automatic, or to make itmanual where the user has to approve a certain position reference point.The user in some embodiments stores a list of IDs of reference pointsthat he/she approves for automatic re-calibration. The user can alsoinclude a list of IDs of reference points that he/she does not approve.The settings in some embodiments also allow the mobile device user tochoose certain categories of reference points and ignore othercategories. For example, the user has the option to specify that he/sheonly wants to use stationary reference points and ignore moving ones, oruse mobile reference points that have been calibrated within a period oftime in the past (e.g., in the last hour).

In another example, the user specifies that he/she only wants to use NFCposition reference devices because of their shorter range and greateraccuracy. The settings in some embodiments allow the user to specifyweights for each positioning method to obtain the final combinedposition as described by reference to FIG. 9, below (e.g., highestweights to GPS positioning and TOA, lowest weight or zero weights tocellular positioning).

When the process decides not to use the assistance data from thereference device, the process proceeds to 525 to continue with theexisting positioning, which in the case of accelerometer positioningmeans the process calculates the mobile device's new velocity andposition based on previous values as described below. Otherwise, whenthe process decides to use the assistance data from the referencedevice, the process resets (at 515) the mobile device position to thepre-stored or calculated position of the reference device. This stepresets to zero the errors that have accumulated over time, and allowsthe accelerometer positioning method to re-calibrate and resumeoperation from another initial accurate position. The more frequentlythe mobile device encounters reference devices and uses them to rest thecumulative errors, the more accurate the positioning algorithm becomes.The process, therefore, resets the errors that have accumulated overtime to zero every time the mobile device uses a nearby positionreference. The accelerometer positioning algorithm then starts from anaccurate initial position again.

The process then waits (at 525) a time interval Δt and then checks (at530) the accelerometer reading. The process then uses this value and analgorithm such as Kalman filtering to compute (at 535) the new velocityand position. The process then optionally displays (at 540) the newposition on a map on the mobile device display. The process thendetermines (at 545) whether assistance data is received from anotherposition reference device. If not, the process proceeds to 525 and theoperations of updating velocity/position and map display are repeated atregular Δt time intervals until the mobile device comes near anotherposition reference, at which point the process receives new positionassistance information and proceeds to 510 to repeat the re-calibrationoperations again.

III. Recalibration of Long-Range Positioning Using Short-Range WirelessAssistance

Mobile devices use a number of different techniques that use wirelesssignals and process them into a location estimate. Typical informationused for positioning includes long-range signals such as GlobalPositioning System (GPS) signals, cellular signals, high transmissionpower or boosted Wi-Fi signals, HD Radio™ signals, WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) signals, etc. The range ofthese signals is more than 50 meters and up to 50 kilometers.

The positioning methods include single trip or round-trip Time OfArrival (TOA), Time Difference Of Arrival (TDOA), Received SignalStrength Indicator (RSSI), Angle Of Arrival (AOA), and Doppler shift.Triangulation is a common method where multiple range or anglemeasurements from known positions are used to calculate the position ofa device. For GPS signals, positioning is done by timing radio signalssent from each of several satellites with known locations to thereceiver.

There are however a number of sources of errors in wireless positioningmethods. The sources of error include multipath propagation and lack ofdirect line of sight between the transmitter and receiver. The amplitudeof RF signals is affected by metal objects, reflective surfaces,multipath, dead-spots, noise and interference. These effects causeerrors in GPS data, RSSI, AOA, TOA, TDOA and Doppler shift. For example,time delays such as TOA and TDOA represent the longer multipath distancerather than the actual distance between the transmitter and thereceiver. The longer multipath propagations also result in smallersignal amplitude indicators such as RSSI, as well as incorrect valuesfor AOA and Doppler shifts. Other sources of positioning errors areclock drift, synchronization errors, and measurement errors. Theseerrors cause incorrect mobile position calculations for traditionallocation techniques.

As described in the following sections, some embodiments utilize a novelapproach for using short-range wireless communication (e.g., with arange of less than 10 meters, less than 2 meters, less than 1 meter,etc.) between low-cost position reference points and mobile devices toprovide position assistance data for mobile devices that use long-rangewireless signals (e.g., with a range of 45 meters to several kilometers)to do positioning. The short-range wireless communication methodsinclude NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®, short-range Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, UWB, andhigh frequency narrow beam methods such as 60 GHz.

A. WLAN/Cellular Positioning Re-Calibration with Short-Range WirelessPosition Assistance

Some embodiments determine the location of a mobile device by measuringthe Time of Arrival (TOA) of a signal. The TOA can be from an accesspoint to the mobile device, from the mobile device to an access point,or it can be the round-trip time from the mobile device to the accesspoint and back to the mobile device. If the signal transmission time andreception time are measured with the same clock then the time differencecan be calculated. This time difference represents the propagation time.The propagation time is multiplied by the speed of light to calculatethe distance between the transmitter and the receiver. The process ofdetermining the propagation time between an access point and the mobiledevice is repeated in some embodiments with three (or more)base-stations with known position coordinates and synchronized timeclocks. The location of the mobile device is then determined as theintersection of three (or more) spheres, where the center of each sphereis the location of the respective access point and the radius is therespective distance between the transmitter and the receiver.

One problem with measuring TOA is that the clock of a mobile device maynot be synchronized with the clock of the access points. Another problemis that the clock of the mobile device may suffer from drift over time.Yet another problem is that some signals experience obstacles and sufferfrom multi-path errors where the path from the transmitter to thereceiver is not along a straight line. These problems result in thethree (or more) spheres not intersecting at a single point because timemeasurement errors cause distance errors and multipath propagationresult in longer indirect distances.

FIG. 6 conceptually illustrates using position reference devices toprovide positioning assistance information and correct problems indetermining position by using time of arrival of signals in someembodiments of the invention. In this example the positions of wirelessaccess points (or base-stations) 610-640 are known from priormeasurements or calculations. The position of the access points arestored in each access point, stored in a position server, and/orbroadcasted. The access points use a short-range communication protocolto transmit position assistance data to nearby mobile devices. Considerthe case where at time T=t₀ a mobile device 605 is in close proximity toaccess point AP2 610 and receives the position of AP2. The mobile devicethen assumes that its position is the same as that of AP2 and uses thatto re-calibrate its TOA access point positioning method. For example,the mobile device finds its clock difference with AP2. Also, AP2 knowsits clock differences with the other nearby access points or it usesround-trip measurements to find them. Hence, the mobile device finds itsclock differences with other nearby access points and corrects forsynchronization and clock drift errors when measuring time delays.

In FIG. 6 the mobile device 605 transmits and measures round-trip TOAinformation for AP1 615, AP3 620, AP5 625, and AP6 630. The mobiledevice also receives the position of AP1, AP3, AP5 and AP6 from eachaccess point, from AP2, or from the position server 650. The mobile thencalculates its distance to each access point and uses that to computewhat the measured round-trip TOA from AP1, AP3 AP5, and AP6 should be.Suppose that the mobile device is receiving multipath transmissions fromAP5 instead of the direct path shown in FIG. 6. Then the mobile devicereceives a round-trip TOA from AP5 that represents a much longerdistance than twice the separation distance between the mobile deviceand AP5. The mobile device in some embodiments disregards TOAmeasurements from AP5 in a certain size region around AP2 since thosemeasurements are likely to be unreliable. For instance, some embodimentsdetermine that the signal path is affected by multipath when thedifference between the calculated and the measured TOA values is morethan a predetermined threshold or a predetermined percentage.

Alternatively, the mobile device uses the measured multipath TOA fromAP5 and the calculated round-trip TOA for a direct path and uses them tomodel and apply a correction factor (e.g., linear multiplicative term ornon-linear term) to the measured round-trip TOA from AP5. At a latertime T=t₁ where the mobile device has moved to a new location 645 themobile device uses its calibrated clock to measure the TOA from nearbyaccess points and uses the point of intersection of the correspondingspheres to compute its position. It can also discard round-trip TOAsthat result from multipath, give them a smaller or zero weight in thefinal position determination, or correct for multipath to obtain thedirect TOA.

Another time delay positioning method is the Time Difference Of Arrival(TDOA). With this method access points transmit at the same time atregular intervals or with known time offsets. The mobile device thenmeasures the difference in arrival times between two access points. Thismethod does not require the transmission time to be known because it isa differential approach. Hence, it is more appropriate for cases whereabsolute time differences are not accurate or are not available. Giventhe location of two access points, the calculated TDOA of the two accesspoints, and the speed of light, a hyperbolic surface is drawn with thetwo access points at its foci. This process is performed with three ormore pairs of access points. This results in a hyperbolic surface foreach pair with the mobile located at the intersection of these surfaces.The correction method mentioned above for the TOA method is also appliedin some embodiments to the TDOA method to re-calibrate time differences,and eliminate multipath measurements or compensate for them.

A Service Set Identifier (SSID) is a name that identifies 802.11wireless LAN access points. WLAN access points transmit beacon messagesthat publicize their SSID. Nearby client devices typically search forSSIDs and then select which access point and network to connect to fromthe list of SSIDs they find. In some embodiments a reference device usesa short-range communication protocol to transmit identifying informationof all nearby access points. Nearby mobile devices that support thatshort-range protocol then receive the information and do not have tosearch for SSIDs. This is another form of position assistanceinformation. The reference device in some embodiments is part of anotherdevice such as an access point. The reference device has a pre-storedlist of all nearby SSIDs and/or regularly searches for beacons to updatethe list. Thus, in FIG. 6 access point 2 can monitor nearby accesspoints (AP1, AP3, AP5 and AP6), receive and store their SSIDs, and useits short-range communicator to send that information to nearby mobiledevices.

Angle of Arrival Methods (AOA) use the angle of arrival between atransmitter and a receiver to locate a device. Consider FIG. 6 where theaccess points transmit to the mobile device, or the mobile devicetransmits to the access points, or a round-trip where the mobile devicetransmits to the access point and the access points transmits back tothe mobile device. In all cases, the direction of the propagating waveis measured. This angle of arrival measurement is either absolute orrelative (in the same way that TOA is absolute and TDOA is relative).Consider the absolute AOA case. If two access points with knownpositions that are non-collinear with respect to the mobile device areused, such as AP5 and AP3 in FIG. 6, then the position of the mobiledevice can be determined by finding the intersection of two straightline rays from each access point with the measured absolute angles. Ifthe measured angles are relative then three access points are requiredand the position of the mobile is determined by the intersection ofthree straight line rays from each access point with the measuredrelative angles.

In FIG. 6 when the mobile 605 is in close proximity to AP2 610 itreceives the position of AP2 with a short-range communication protocol.The mobile then uses the position of AP2 as its position and uses theknown positions of nearby access points that are transmitting tocalculate its angles with those access points. The calculated angles arethen compared with the measured AOAs to form correction factors forcalibration. The mobile in some embodiments also identifies anglemeasurements from access points that are suffering from multipathpropagation and discards those access points for nearby areas, givesthem a smaller weighting in the final position determination, orcompensates for the multipath to calculate the true angle of arrival.

Although the previous TOA, TDOA and AOA descriptions have discussed WLAN802.11 access points, the same description is true if the access pointsare cellular base-stations. Cellular networks typically divide acoverage area into a series of cells. Each cell has a cell towerbase-station that includes a transmitter, receiver, and antenna. Thetransmit power of the base-station determines the area of the cell; thelarger the transmit power the larger the size of the cell. Indoorcoverage of cellular networks in homes, shopping malls and smallbusinesses can also be improved with the use of smaller cellularbase-stations called femtocell (with ranges of about 10 meters) orpicocells (with ranges of up to 200 meters). Thus, the access points inFIG. 6 can be cellular femtocell base-stations and position referencedevices can be used to improve the accuracy of cellular TOA, TDOA, andAOA positioning. The previous discussions also apply to RFID positioningsystems since they also use TOA, TDOA, and AOA between RFID readers andtags.

Another approach for position determination is to use the ReceivedSignal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of the incoming radio signals. Thedetected signal strength at a receiver is inversely proportional to thesquare of the distance from the transmitter according to free spacetransmission. Referring back to FIG. 6 a mobile detects the amplitude ofthe beacon transmissions of nearby access points; AP1, AP2, AP3, AP5 andAP6. Suppose that the position of the access points are measuredaccurately with commercial grade GPS, surveying, or are estimated from aRSSI data gathering deterministic phase. The mobile device in someembodiments uses a centroid algorithm that weights the position of eachaccess point with the square of its received signal strength. Theresulting sum is then normalized by dividing the summation with the sumof the weights; the square of the received signal strengths. Inpractice, however, effects such as obstacles, interference, andmultipath propagation, cause variations to the RSSI that make the methodunreliable. The RSSI method in some embodiments is tested and difficultareas that suffer from obstacles and multipath are identified. Positionreferences are then installed at the identified areas. When a mobiledevice is near a reference device, the mobile device then uses theposition of the reference device instead of RSSI.

All of the calibration procedures (TOA, TDOA, AOA, RSSI, GPS) can berepeated at other reference points. For example, in FIG. 6 AP2 is usedas a calibration point. The mobile device then moves away from AP2 anduses the calibration and correction from AP2 to find its position. At alater time when the mobile device is in close proximity to AP7 thecalibration is repeated since calibration at AP7 is more likely tocompensate for multipath effects in the regions near AP7. The mobile'sclock drift effects also get worse over time and need to bere-calibrated repeatedly.

FIG. 7 conceptually illustrates a process 700 that calculates theposition of a mobile device by using long-range wireless signals such ashigh-power transmission WLAN signals and calibrating its WLAN-basedpositioning with nearby position reference devices in some embodimentsof the invention. This is similar to FIG. 5 except that the positioninguses measurements based on long-range wireless signals rather thanaccelerometer measurements. The wireless communication methods used bythe position reference devices include short-range signals such as NFC,RFID, Bluetooth®, short-range Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and high frequencynarrow beam methods such as 60 GHz. The position calculations areperformed, e.g., by the mobile device's position engine and processor.

Prior to coming to proximity of a position reference, the mobile deviceis using received long-range wireless signals to determine its position(e.g., by (i) receiving high-power transmission Wi-Fi, cellular, etc.,signals from several transmitters, (ii) doing measurements using TOA,TDOA, RSSI, AOA, etc., and (iii) using a technique such as triangulationto determine its position). As shown in FIG. 7, when the mobile devicecomes in close proximity to a position reference device, process 700receives (at 705) position assistance information from the referencedevice through a short-range wireless protocol. The position assistanceinformation transmitted by the reference device in some embodimentsincludes one or more of the reference device identification (ID),general information such as its type and whether it is stationary ormoving, its short-range communication protocol and its associatedtransmission power level, its pre-stored or calculated positioninformation, the timestamp for when its own reference position wascalibrated, and position assistance data for different methods such asGPS, Wi-Fi, etc.

The process then checks the received information and determines (at 710)whether to use the received information for position re-calibration.This decision in some embodiments is based on the settings of the mobileas was described by reference to FIG. 5, above. When the process decidesnot to use the assistance data from the reference device, the processproceeds to 725 and continues with the existing WLAN-based positioningas described below. When the process decides to use the assistance datafrom the reference device, the process sets (at 715) the position of themobile device to the reference position.

The process models (at 720) the WLAN positioning error by calibratingthe WLAN-based positioning such that the calculated position coincideswith the reference position. The process then waits (at 725) a timeinterval Δt. The process then receives (at 730) WLAN signals andcomputes (at 730) a WLAN-based position. The received signals (at 730)are the signals that are used for position determinations and not theposition assistance data from the position reference device. In someembodiments, the same transmitting device that provides one of thesignals for position determination also provides the position referencesignal when the mobile device comes close to the transmitting device.For instance, a Wi-Fi access point provides positioning signals by usinghigh-power transmission with a range of tens of meters and provides alow-power short range position reference signal when the access pointdetermines that a mobile device has come to the vicinity (e.g., lessthan 5 meters, less than 2 meters, less than 1 meter, etc.) of theaccess point.

Next, the process optionally displays (at 735) the computed position ona map of the mobile device display. The process then determines (at 740)whether assistance data is received from another position referencedevice. If not, the process proceeds to 725 and the operations ofcomputing a WLAN-based position and map display at regular Δt timeintervals until the mobile device comes near another position reference,at which point the process receives new position assistance informationand proceeds to 710 to repeat the re-calibration operations again.

B. GPS Positioning Re-Calibration with Short-Range Wireless AssistanceData

Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers provide location informationby communicating with satellites that orbit the earth. A GPS receivertypically locates four or more satellites and calculates the distance toeach satellite by timing a radio signal from each satellite to thereceiver. In order to use this timing information the receiver has toknow the location of the satellites. Since the satellites travel inknown orbit paths the GPS receiver can receive and store the ephemerisand/or almanac that tells the receiver the location of the satellites atvarious times. Slight variations on the positions of the satellitescaused by planetary gravitational pulls are also monitored by theDepartment of Defense and transmitted by the satellites themselves aspart of their signals to the receivers.

A GPS receiver uses the distance/timing information and the location ofthe satellites to calculate its own position. The distance from eachsatellite limits the location of the GPS receiver to a sphere centeredon the satellite location with a radius equal to the distance to thesatellite. The intersection of the four spheres (one for each satellite)provides the location of the GPS receiver. In order for the GPS receiverto measure the travel time between the satellite signal and the receiverthe satellite transmits a pseudo-random code pattern. The receiver alsostarts playing the same pattern. After the satellite signal reaches thereceiver it exhibits a delay lag compared to the receiver pattern. Thisdelay represents the signal travel time. Both the satellite and thereceiver must use the same clock time in order to measure this delay.The satellites use expensive atomic clocks, whereas the receivers usein-expensive clocks that are re-calibrated at frequent time intervals.The receiver looks at four or more signals from different satellites. Itthen draws the corresponding four or more spheres. If there is timeinaccuracy for the receiver's clock the spheres will not intersect atone point since they will all be offset by the same time error. Thereceiver can then adjust its clock until the spheres intersect at asingle point, thereby synchronizing with the atomic clocks of thesatellites.

Autonomous GPS receivers receive information from orbiting satellitesand perform the calculations themselves in order to locate theirposition. The information they download from the satellites includessatellite ID, almanac, clock corrections and ephemeris. They use thisinformation along with their measured pseudo range data to calculateposition and velocity. Assisted GPS systems use assistance data from anassistance server. The mobile's assisted GPS receiver measures pseudoranges and Doppler, and obtains assisted data from the assistanceserver.

FIG. 8 conceptually illustrates positioning with assistance dataprovided by the short-range communicator of position reference wirelessaccess points in some embodiments of the invention. The figure shows amobile device that is equipped with a GPS receiver. The mobile device805 is in close proximity to a fixed location wireless access point 810that is equipped with a GPS receiver and acts as an assistance server tonearby GPS receivers. The access point uses its GPS receiver and itsknown position to acquire GPS assistance data. The access point thenuses its short-range communicator to transmit the GPS assistance data tonearby wireless devices that also have the same short-rangecommunicator. The short-range wireless communicator can be NFC, RFID,Bluetooth®, short-range Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and high frequency narrowbeam such as 60 GHz. The assisted data transmitted by the access pointin some embodiments includes information about which satellite IDs itsees and with what delays, almanac, clock corrections, ephemeris,approximate time, and approximate location. The mobile device in FIG. 8then receives the assistance data and its GPS receiver uses the data tocalculate a more accurate position. Assistance data also speeds up themobile's GPS receiver signal acquisition times. As described byreference to FIG. 3, above, the position reference devices used in theembodiments of the invention are low-cost widely used short-rangedevices that use protocols such as NFC, Bluetooth®, RFID, and Wi-Fi thatare in many consumer electronic devices. The position reference devicesin these embodiments calibrate the GPS positioning of a phone or alaptop or tablet that is inside the car as opposed to just calibrate adedicated GPS system inside the car. Also the disclosed method is anabsolute correction method because absolute position is provided,whereas previous GPS correction methods such as DGPS are differentialcorrection methods.

Some GPS errors such as those caused by clocks, the atmosphere and orbitdeviations produce similar errors over large areas and can be correctedby differential correction methods. In FIG. 8 the access point cancontinuously receive signals from the satellites 815, calculate itsdistance to each satellite based on the signal delays, and compute itsposition. The difference between the access point's known location andits calculated location is a measure of the positioning error affectingthat GPS receiver at that location at each time instance. The accesspoint can calculate the correction needed to compensate for the error ateach time instance. For example, the access point in some embodimentscalculates the delays it should be seeing for each satellite andcompares them with the received delays to compute the delay correctionsfor each satellite at a given time instance. The access point thentransmits that correction to nearby mobile devices. The correction datais most accurate near the access point. Thus, as the mobile moves awayfrom the access point it may use a different correction factor. In FIG.8 both AP1 810 and AP2 820 can act as fixed location reference GPSassistance and differential assistance servers. As the mobile movescloser to AP2 it may receive and use AP2's correction data instead ofthose of AP1. In some embodiments, when a mobile device receivescorrection data from several access points, the mobile device determinesthe closest access point (e.g., by using signal strength or other means)and uses only its correction data, or alternatively gives weights anduses all correction data where higher weights are given to closerreference points. The access points and the mobile device are connected(wired or wirelessly) to a network and can communicate with a networkedposition server 825. The position server stores data, performs positioncalculations, coordinates and synchronizes the clocks (not shown) ofaccess points, and downloads or uploads information.

With multipath propagation some satellite signals are received at GPSreceivers through indirect paths with longer time delays. Fixed locationreference access points in some embodiments use their location and thatof the orbiting satellite to determine what the direct path delay to aparticular satellite should be. If the difference is significant onlyfor a particular satellite then it is likely due to multipath. Mobilereceivers then ignore that satellite in some embodiments while thereference receivers are flagging it as multipath. Alternatively, themobile devices use the difference as a correction factor. Also,multipath areas are flagged in some embodiments so additional fixedlocation reference points are installed to help navigation in thoseareas.

The flow diagram for GPS-based positioning re-calibration is similar toFIG. 7. The process of FIG. 7 uses signals from transmitters todetermine positioning. The only difference is that when the mobiledevice resets its position it resets the GPS-based positioning error bycalibrating the GPS-based positioning such that the calculated positioncoincides with the reference position. At a later time the mobile thenreceives GPS signals and computes a calibrated GPS-based position.

IV. Combined Positioning Re-Calibration with Short-Range WirelessAssistance Data Using Multiple Signals Received from a PositionReference Device

The previous sections described position re-calibration foraccelerometer, WLAN/cellular, and GPS. A mobile device, however, canhave multiple radios (e.g., as described by reference to FIG. 1) andpositioning methods in some embodiments. A position reference device cantherefore be used to re-calibrate multiple positioning methods of amobile and provide assistance data to them.

FIG. 9 conceptually illustrates a process 900 that calculates theposition of a mobile device by using multiple positioning methods andcalibrating them with nearby position reference devices in someembodiments of the invention. This flow diagram is similar to FIG. 7,except that there are multiple positioning methods that arere-calibrated, and the calculated final position of the mobile is aweighted sum of all positioning methods.

The mobile device uses signals received through multiple radios,determines location of the mobile device by using positioning methodsthat correspond to each radio, and sets the location of the mobiledevice to a weighted sum of the locations calculated by each method. Asthe time goes on, different sources of error such as lack of direct lineof sight and existence of multipath, metal objects, reflective surfaces,dead-spots, noise and interference between the transmitters andreceivers cause the positioning methods to lose their accuracy and goout of calibration.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the mobile device comes in close proximity to aposition reference device, process 900 receives (at 905) positionassistance information from the reference device through a short-rangewireless protocol. The position assistance information transmitted bythe reference device in some embodiments includes one or more of thereference device identification (ID), general information such as itstype and whether it is stationary or moving, its short-rangecommunication protocol and its associated transmission power level, itspre-stored or calculated position information, the timestamp for whenits own reference position was calibrated, and position assistance datafor different methods such as GPS, Wi-Fi, etc. The process then checksthe received information and determines (at 910) whether to use thereceived information for position re-calibration. This decision in someembodiments is based on the settings of the mobile device as wasdescribed by reference to FIG. 5, above.

When the process decides not to use the assistance data from thereference device, the process proceeds to 925 and continues with theexisting positioning methods as described below. Otherwise, when theprocess decides to use the assistance data from the reference device theprocess calibrates (at 915) the positioning methods so the calculatedposition from each method coincides with the reference position. Thus,if the mobile device has 802.11 radio module 120 (as shown in FIG. 1),the mobile device receives WLAN signals through antenna 135. Theposition engine 180 and processor 150 then use the WLAN signals tocompute a WLAN-based position, and if the computed position does notcoincide with the reference position then position engine 180 andprocessor 150 calibrate their WLAN-based positioning algorithm until thecomputed WLAN-based position coincides with the reference position. Thiscalibration is repeated for other radio modules such as GPS module 110,Bluetooth module 115, cellular module 105, 60 GHz module 122 or otherhigh frequency radios with beam-forming 125, and RFID. Thus, allpositioning methods have been calibrated so that their computedpositions coincide with the reference position. The process alsoidentifies (at 915) the computed positioning errors for each positioningmethod prior to calibration and determines weights for each method,where larger weights are given to more accurate positioning methods thathave smaller computed positioning errors. These weights are used (e.g.,at 935, described below) to compute a combined position from all thepositioning methods.

It should be appreciated that the position reference device does notnecessarily need to have multiple antennas or to support anycommunication protocol that the mobile device uses for positioning. Aslong as the position reference device and the mobile device are capableof communicating with each other through at least one protocol that issupported by both devices, the mobile device can receive the positionassistance data including the pre-stored or calculated positioninformation of the position reference device. This information is thenused to calibrate positioning methods for all radio types supported bythe mobile device. For instance, the mobile device can use 802.11 andRFID protocols for position calculation while the mobile device andposition reference device communicate using NFC for providing assistancedata to the mobile device. As another example, the mobile device canreceive high power transmission signals from a set of transmittersthrough the 802.11 radio to determine position and receive low powertransmission signals through the 802.11 radio from one of thosetransmitters (or a different transmitter) that is nearby to receiveassistance data. Similarly, the mobile device can receive RFID signalsfrom transmitters operating in the microwave band (3.1-10 GHz with rangeof up to 200 meters) for position determination and receive positionassistance data from an RFID transmitter operating in high frequency(HF) band (13.56 MHz with a range of up to 1 meter). The process thensets (at 920) the position of the mobile device to the reference deviceposition (i.e., the pre-stored or calculated position of the positionreference device).

The process then waits (at 925) a time interval Δt. The process thenreceives (at 930) signals for each of its positioning methods andcomputes a calibrated position for each method. The process thencombines (at 935) the different positions by weighting eachappropriately. Different embodiments use different normalized weights assimple as using 1 for one positioning method and zeros for the rest(e.g., pick GPS and ignore others), using equal weights, using weightsbased on historical accuracy of each positioning method, or using aconfidence measure for each positioning method. For instance, theconfidence in a GPS positioning method is high if many satellites areseen by the mobile's GPS receiver. Likewise, a WLAN TOA method has ahigh confidence if many WLAN access points are nearby and thetriangulation of their data coincides at a single point. The reverse isalso true where if some GPS or access points are not in view theconfidence number is lower. After the process computes a combinedposition the process optionally displays (at 940) the position on a mapon the mobile device display.

The process then determines (at 945) whether assistance data is receivedfrom another position reference device. If not, the process proceeds to925 and the operations of computing a position for each positioningmethod, computing a combined position, and map display are repeated atregular Δt time intervals until the mobile device comes near anotherposition reference, at which point the process receives new positionassistance information and proceeds to 910 to repeat the re-calibrationoperations again. The combined final position in some embodiments has aseparate confidence measure assigned to it. For instance, if all thedifferent positioning methods (e.g., GPS, Accelerometer, WLAN) giveposition values that are highly correlated and close to each other thanthe combined position has a high confidence measure.

V. Alternative Embodiments A. Encrypting Position and Assistance Data

In some embodiments the reference device encrypts the assistance dataand/or points to a server for encryption purposes. For instance, thereference point can be part of a Wi-Fi or cellular network. The positionreference transfers a URL to a nearby mobile device. Then if the mobiledevice is not registered with that network it is denied access. Forexample, the network can be by a service provider (e.g., AT&T) and ifthe mobile device user is not registered with that service provider themobile device cannot access that URL and/or get the decryption key. Thenetwork service provider knows the position of powered up registeredmobile devices that are using its network. The service providertherefore is able to act as a certificate authority for the powered upregistered mobile devices. Alternatively, the service provider in someembodiments has an agreement with an intermediary third party (e.g.,McDonalds) such that the intermediary has certain locations where itgets the data from the service provider and presents it to mobiledevices.

B. Weighting Position and Assistance Data Received from MultiplePosition Reference Devices

FIG. 10 conceptually illustrates a mobile device that receives positionand assistance data from several position references with differentshort-range communication methods and different calibration time-stamps,and gives different weights to them in some embodiments of theinvention. For instance, in one scenario where user 1's mobile devicereceives position reference and assistance data from several referencedevices, the mobile device weights their position and assistance databased on how far they are from the mobile device. If the referencedevices are moving then the weights also take into account how recentlythe reference devices were calibrated. The position reference devicesare connected to a network 1050 and can communicate with a networkedposition server 1055. The position server stores data, performs positioncalculations, coordinates and synchronizes the clocks of referencepoints and access points, and downloads or uploads information.

In FIG. 10, the mobile device 1005 of user 1 uses its NFC communicatorto power up a passive NFC tag 1010 and receive position assistance datafrom it. The mobile device also uses its RFID reader to receiveassistance data from an RFID tag 1040. The mobile device of user 1 alsouses its 802.11 radio to receive assistance data from 802.11 accesspoint 2 1015 that is transmitting with low power to reduce its range.The mobile device 1005 also uses its 60 GHz transceiver to receiveassistance data from the 60 GHz communicator of a store security gate1030. The cellular receiver of the mobile device receives assistancedata from a reference cellular base-station 1035. There are also twomoving reference points that are close to user 1. User 2 has a mobiledevice 1020 that uses Wi-Fi Direct to transmit assistance data to themobile of user 1, and user 5 has a mobile device 1025 that is usingBluetooth® to transmit assistance data to the mobile of user 1. Themobile device of user 1 can then combine the position assistance datafrom different references based on a confidence measure. Some strategiesfor this confidence measure are as follow.

Some embodiments weight assistance data based on distance. The closer areference device is to a mobile device the more accurate is the positionassistance data of that reference device for that mobile device. Thus, amobile device may choose to use only the assistance data of the nearestreference point. For example, in FIG. 10 the mobile device can select touse the position and assistance data from the NFC tag and ignore therest because the range of NFC is very small and the mobile device has tobe very close to it in order to be able to communicate with it.Alternatively, rather than ignoring the other reference devices themobile device can assign weights based on the range of the short-rangecommunication protocol. Thus, reference position and assistance datathat is received with an NFC communication protocol is given the highestweight. Likewise, smallest weights or zero weights are given toassistance data that are received from a reference point with a cellularprotocol because of the large range of cellular signals. The weights mayalso take into account the strength of the received signals. Forexample, if two reference devices are using the same short-rangeprotocol with similar transmit power but the mobile device receives astronger signal from one versus the other, the stronger signal referenceis given a higher weight because the mobile device is closer to thatreference device.

Some embodiments weight assistance data based on calibration timestamp:When a reference device is moving it is important to note the time whenits position (and hence its positioning methods) were calibrated. Thisis because its positioning errors accumulate over time until they areremoved or reduced by a nearby position reference point. There istherefore greater confidence in a more recently calibrated movingreference point. For example, suppose in FIG. 10 the position of themobile device 1020 of user 2 is much more recently calibrated comparedto the mobile device 1025 of user 5. Both devices transmit the timestampat which they were calibrated to the mobile device 1005 of user 1. Themobile of user 1 may then accept only the assistance data of user 2'smobile, or give it a higher weight.

A mobile reference device may also have multiple positioning methods,some of which are more recently calibrated. For example, the GPSassistance data of user 2's mobile may be more accurate because it ismore recently updated compared to its TOA/TDOA/RSSI/AOA methods. User2's reference mobile device then transmits a timestamp for each of itsassistance data. User 1's mobile device then receives the data and givesa higher weight to the GPS assistance data compared to theTOA/TDOA/RSSI/AOA assistance data.

A hybrid weighting scheme is also possible were the weights include boththe reference device's short-range communication protocol and thereference device's calibration timestamp. FIG. 11 conceptuallyillustrates a process 1100 for combining assistance data from severalreference devices, calibrating a mobile device's positioning methods andcomputing a combined position in some embodiments of the invention. Thisprocess is similar to process 900 in FIG. 9 except that there areseveral position reference devices near the mobile device. When themobile device comes in close proximity to more than one positionreference devices, process 1100 receives (at 1105) position assistanceinformation from the plurality of position reference devices. Theprocess receives position assistance information from the referencedevices through short-range wireless protocols. The position assistanceinformation transmitted by the reference devices in some embodimentsincludes their identification (ID), general information such as theirtype and whether they are stationary or moving, their short-rangecommunication protocol and associated transmission power level, theirpre-stored or calculated position information, the timestamp for whentheir own reference position was calibrated, and/or position assistancedata for different methods such as GPS, Wi-Fi, etc. The process thencombines (at 1110) the position and assistance data from the pluralityof reference devices by weighting them in a manner that was describedabove.

The process then determines (at 1115) whether to use the assistancedata. The rest of the steps are as in FIG. 9. The steps of computing aposition (at 1135) for each method, computing a combined position (at1140) and optional map display (at 1145) are repeated at regular Δt timeintervals (after the wait at 1130), until the mobile device comes nearnew position references that were not in the initial plurality ofreference devices, at which point the process receives new positionassistance information. The process then proceeds to 1110 and theoperations repeat again.

C. Receiving Assistance Data of a Position Reference Indirectly ThroughAnother Device

In the previous descriptions position references transmit assistancedata directly to mobile devices with short-range communication protocolssuch as NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®, short-range Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and highfrequency narrow beam methods such as 60 GHz. FIG. 12 conceptuallyillustrates a mobile device that receives assistance data from areference device indirectly through another device in some embodimentsof the invention. In this example access point 2 1205 uses 802.11 (withregular power or low-power for shorter range) to transmit assistancedata to the mobile device 1210 of user 2. The mobile device 1210 uses aP2P connection such as Wi-Fi Direct to transmit the information to themobile device 1215 of user 1. There are other ad-hoc or mesh networkconfigurations that can also achieve the same result. For example theP2P connection between the two mobile devices could be Bluetooth® orsome other protocol. The communication between the reference point 1205and the intermediate node 1210 can also be other short-range protocolssuch as NFC, RFID, Bluetooth®, 60 GHz, etc. There could also be amulti-hop situation where there are more than one intermediate nodedevice between the reference device and the mobile device of user 1.FIG. 12 in some embodiments operates in a push model where the referencepoint broadcasts its assistance data (e.g., in beacons) and intermediatenodes act as repeaters. FIG. 12 in some embodiments operates in a pullmodel where user 1's mobile makes a request to user 2's mobile; user 2'smobile searches and finds the reference point and requests assistancedata; and user 2's mobile forwards any received data to the mobiledevice of user 1.

The use of intermediate nodes is useful in situations where the mobilecannot communicate with the reference point directly. This could occurfor several reasons. For example, the position reference device and themobile device of user 1 may not support the same short-rangecommunication protocols, and one (or more) intermediate node(s) act as aprotocol bridge. Another reason could be because the range of thereference point device is too short to reach the mobile device of user 1and one or more intermediate nodes extend the range. Yet another reasoncould be that there are obstacles between the reference point and themobile device of user 1 and an indirect path is necessary.

D. Using Optical or Acoustical Methods to Transfer Position AssistanceData

Reference devices in some embodiments utilize optical or acousticalmethods to transfer position assistance data to nearby mobile devices.For instance, optical RFID uses optical readers and optical tags thatuse electromagnetic waves in the THz region of the spectrum (1014Hertz). Time-of-flight of ultrasound transmissions from a transmitter toa receiver can be used to measure distances for triangulation methods.Infra-Red (IR) methods can also be used where a direct line of sight isrequired for information transfer.

E. Sending Advertisements in Addition to Sending Transfer PositionAssistance Data

In some embodiments, the reference devices serve advertisements inaddition to positioning assistance to nearby mobile devices. Forinstance, in FIG. 4 the mobile user would not only see the position onthe map but products, services, and deals that are near that location.The advertising information are either pre-programmed in the referencedevices, or dynamically updated and retrieved from a server on thenetwork 1230 such as a position server 1220 or a dedicated advertisingserver 1225. Fixed reference nodes as well as moving nodes andintermediate nodes such as User 2 in FIG. 12 also receive a portion ofthe revenues that are generated from the advertisements in someembodiments. For example, the advertisement server 1225 in FIG. 12targets ads that are related to nearby products, and deals to accesspoint 2. Access point 2 then forwards the ads to user 2's mobile anduser 2's mobile forwards the advertisement to user 1's mobile devicetogether with the position assistance data. If user 1 purchases theadvertised product the seller would pay the advertisement servercompany. The advertisement server company would then pay a portion ofthe revenues to the access point 2 company (or store that hosts it) anduser 2. The seller may also pay each party directly.

VI. Electronic System

FIG. 13 conceptually illustrates an electronic system 1300 with whichsome embodiments of the invention are implemented. The electronic system1300 may be a computer (e.g., a desktop computer, personal computer,tablet computer, server, etc.), phone, PDA, or any other sort ofelectronic or computing device. Such an electronic system includesvarious types of computer readable media and interfaces for variousother types of computer readable media. Electronic system 1300 in someembodiments includes a bus 1305, processing unit(s) 1310, a systemmemory 1320, a network 1325, a read-only memory 1330, a permanentstorage device 1335, input devices 1340, and output devices 1345.

The bus 1305 collectively represents all system, peripheral, and chipsetbuses that communicatively connect the numerous internal devices of theelectronic system 1300. For instance, the bus 1305 communicativelyconnects the processing unit(s) 1310 with the read-only memory 1330, thesystem memory 1320, and the permanent storage device 1335.

From these various memory units, the processing unit(s) 1310 retrievesinstructions to execute and data to process in order to execute theprocesses of the invention. The processing unit(s) may be a singleprocessor or a multi-core processor in different embodiments.

The read-only-memory (ROM) 1330 stores static data and instructions thatare needed by the processing unit(s) 1310 and other modules of theelectronic system. The permanent storage device 1335, on the other hand,is a read-and-write memory device. This device is a non-volatile memoryunit that stores instructions and data even when the electronic system1300 is off. Some embodiments of the invention use a mass-storage device(such as a magnetic or optical disk and its corresponding disk drive) asthe permanent storage device 1335.

Other embodiments use a removable storage device (such as a floppy disk,flash memory device, etc., and its corresponding disk drive) as thepermanent storage device. Like the permanent storage device 1335, thesystem memory 1320 is a read-and-write memory device. However, unlikestorage device 1335, the system memory 1320 is a volatile read-and-writememory, such a random access memory. The system memory 1320 stores someof the instructions and data that the processor needs at runtime. Insome embodiments, the invention's processes are stored in the systemmemory 1320, the permanent storage device 1335, and/or the read-onlymemory 1330. For example, the various memory units include instructionsfor processing multimedia clips in accordance with some embodiments.From these various memory units, the processing unit(s) 1310 retrievesinstructions to execute and data to process in order to execute theprocesses of some embodiments.

The bus 1305 also connects to the input and output devices 1340 and1345. The input devices 1340 enable the user to communicate informationand select commands to the electronic system. The input devices 1340include alphanumeric keyboards and pointing devices (also called “cursorcontrol devices”), cameras (e.g., webcams), microphones or similardevices for receiving voice commands, etc. The output devices 1345display images generated by the electronic system or otherwise outputdata. The output devices 1345 include printers and display devices, suchas cathode ray tubes (CRT) or liquid crystal displays (LCD), as well asspeakers or similar audio output devices. Some embodiments includedevices such as a touchscreen that function as both input and outputdevices.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 13, bus 1305 also couples electronic system1300 to a network 1325 through a network adapter (not shown). In thismanner, the computer can be a part of a network of computers (such as alocal area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), or an Intranet,or a network of networks, such as the Internet. Any or all components ofelectronic system 1300 may be used in conjunction with the invention.

Many of the above-described features and applications are implemented assoftware processes that are specified as a set of instructions recordedon a computer readable storage medium (also referred to as computerreadable medium, machine readable medium, machine readable storage).When these instructions are executed by one or more computational orprocessing unit(s) (e.g., one or more processors, cores of processors,or other processing units), they cause the processing unit(s) to performthe actions indicated in the instructions. Examples of computer readablemedia include, but are not limited to, CD-ROMs, flash drives, randomaccess memory (RAM) chips, hard drives, erasable programmable read onlymemories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories(EEPROMs), etc. The computer readable media does not include carrierwaves and electronic signals passing wirelessly or over wiredconnections.

In this specification, the term “software” is meant to include firmwareresiding in read-only memory or applications stored in magnetic storagewhich can be read into memory for processing by a processor. Also, insome embodiments, multiple software inventions can be implemented assub-parts of a larger program while remaining distinct softwareinventions. In some embodiments, multiple software inventions can alsobe implemented as separate programs. Finally, any combination ofseparate programs that together implement a software invention describedhere is within the scope of the invention. In some embodiments, thesoftware programs, when installed to operate on one or more electronicsystems, define one or more specific machine implementations thatexecute and perform the operations of the software programs.

Some embodiments include electronic components, such as microprocessors,storage and memory that store computer program instructions in amachine-readable or computer-readable medium (alternatively referred toas computer-readable storage media, machine-readable media, ormachine-readable storage media). Some examples of such computer-readablemedia include RAM, ROM, read-only compact discs (CD-ROM), recordablecompact discs (CD-R), rewritable compact discs (CD-RW), read-onlydigital versatile discs (e.g., DVD-ROM, dual-layer DVD-ROM), a varietyof recordable/rewritable DVDs (e.g., DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, etc.),flash memory (e.g., SD cards, mini-SD cards, micro-SD cards, etc.),magnetic and/or solid state hard drives, read-only and recordableBlu-Ray® discs, ultra density optical discs, any other optical ormagnetic media, and floppy disks. The computer-readable media may storea computer program that is executable by at least one processing unitand includes sets of instructions for performing various operations.Examples of computer programs or computer code include machine code,such as is produced by a compiler, and files including higher-level codethat are executed by a computer, an electronic component, or amicroprocessor using an interpreter.

While the above discussion primarily refers to microprocessor ormulti-core processors that execute software, some embodiments areperformed by one or more integrated circuits, such as applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs). In some embodiments, such integrated circuits executeinstructions that are stored on the circuit itself. In addition, someembodiments execute software stored in programmable logic devices(PLDs), ROM, or RAM devices.

As used in this specification and any claims of this application, theterms “computer”, “server”, “processor”, and “memory” all refer toelectronic or other technological devices. These terms exclude people orgroups of people. For the purposes of this specification, the termsdisplay or displaying means displaying on an electronic device. As usedin this specification and any claims of this application, the terms“computer readable medium,” “computer readable media,” and “machinereadable medium” are entirely restricted to tangible, physical objectsthat store information in a form that is readable by a computer. Theseterms exclude any wireless signals, wired download signals, and anyother ephemeral signals.

While the invention has been described with reference to numerousspecific details, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatthe invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. In addition, a number of the figures(e.g., FIGS. 5, 7, 9, and 11) conceptually illustrate processes. Thespecific operations of these processes may not be performed in the exactorder shown and described. The specific operations may not be performedin one continuous series of operations, and different specificoperations may be performed in different embodiments. Furthermore, theprocess could be implemented using several sub-processes, or as part ofa larger macro process. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art wouldunderstand that the invention is not to be limited by the foregoingillustrative details, but rather is to be defined by the appendedclaims.

While the invention has been described with reference to numerousspecific details, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatthe invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the artwould understand that the invention is not to be limited by theforegoing illustrative details, but rather is to be defined by theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: anaccelerometer configured to provide a measurement of the electronicdevice acceleration; a set of wireless receivers for receiving signalsfrom a set of position reference devices; the electronic deviceconfigured to: receive positioning assistance data comprising a positionof a position reference device; set a position of the electronic deviceto the received position of the position reference device; read theaccelerometer measurement after a predetermined time delay; calculate anupdated velocity of the electronic device and an updated position of theelectronic device based on the accelerometer measurement, a previousvelocity of the electronic device and a previous position of theelectronic device; and iteratively perform the reading and thecalculating until further positioning assistance data is received from aposition reference device.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1 furtherconfigured to indirectly receive positioning assistance data from theposition reference device through one or more other electronic devices.3. The electronic device of claim 1 further configured to receiveadvertisements from the position reference device.
 4. The electronicdevice of claim 1 further configured to: receive encrypted positionassistance data from the position reference device; and receive adecryption key to decrypt the encrypted position assistant data.
 5. Theelectronic device of claim 1 further configured to: receive a uniformresource locator (URL) to access the positioning assistance data; andaccess the URL to receive the positioning assistance data.
 6. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the position reference device is afirst position reference device, the electronic device furtherconfigured to: receive positioning assistance data comprising a positionof a second position reference device; set the position of theelectronic device to the position of the second position referencedevice; read the accelerometer measurement after a predetermined timedelay from setting the position of the electronic device to the positionof the second position reference device; and calculate an updatedvelocity of the electronic device and an updated position of theelectronic device based on the accelerometer measurement, a previousvelocity of the electronic device and a previous position of theelectronic device.
 7. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein theelectronic device is configured to receive positioning assistance datafrom the first and second position reference devices using one or moreof near field communication (NFC) signals, radio frequencyidentification (RFID) signals, Bluetooth signals, short-range Wi-Fisignals, Wi-Fi Direct signals, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) signals, and highfrequency narrow beam comprising 60 GHz signals.
 8. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is configured toreceive the positioning assistance data of the position reference deviceusing near field communication (NFC) electromagnetic coupling in areader-writer NFC mode, wherein the electronic device provides anelectromagnetic field and the position reference device responds bymodulating and backscattering the positioning assistance data.
 9. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device isconfigured to receive positioning assistance data of the positionreference device using near field communication (NFC) in a peer-to-peer(P2P) mode, wherein the position reference device and the electronicdevice each comprises a power source, NFC antenna circuits, and NFCcoils, wherein the electronic device and the position reference deviceeach turn off a corresponding RF field by turning off power from thecorresponding power source to the corresponding NFC antenna circuits andthe corresponding NFC coils when receiving data.
 10. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is one of a cellularphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop, a tablet, a digitalvideo camera, a video game player, a wireless headset, a wireless mouse,a wireless keyboard, a pager, an external hard drive, a toy, anelectronic book reader, a sensor, a CD/DVD/cassette/MP-3 player, anelectronic appliance, and an automobile.
 11. The electronic device ofclaim 1, wherein the position reference device is a first positionreference device, the electronic device further configured to: receivepositioning assistance data from a second position reference device, thereceived positioning assistance data comprising a pre-stored orcalculated position of the second position reference device and at leastone of the second position reference device identification (ID), a typeof the second position reference device, an indication whether thesecond position reference device is stationary or moving, a short-rangecommunication protocol supported by the second position reference deviceand an associated transmission power level, a timestamp indicating whena reference position associated with the second position referencedevice was calibrated, and position assistance data for a set ofpositioning methods supported by the second position reference device;and determine whether to set the position of the electronic device tothe position of the second position reference device based on thepositioning assistant data received from the second position referencedevice.
 12. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronicdevice is configured to receive said positioning assistance data of theposition reference device from the position reference device.
 13. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device isconfigured to receive said positioning assistance data of the positionreference device from a position server communicatively coupled to theelectronic device.
 14. The electronic device of claim 1 furthercomprising a graphical user interface, the electronic device furtherconfigured to: receive a selection through the graphical user interfaceto perform manual position re-calibration requiring a user approval toset the position of the electronic device; and receive an approval forsetting the position of the electronic device before setting theposition of the electronic device to the position of the positionreference device.
 15. The electronic device of claim 1 furthercomprising a graphical user interface, the electronic device furtherconfigured to: receive a list of approved position reference devicesthrough the graphical user interface prior to receiving the position ofthe position reference device; and determine that the position referencedevice is in the list of approved position reference devices beforesetting the position of the electronic device to the position of theposition reference device.
 16. The electronic device of claim 1 furthercomprising a graphical user interface, wherein the position referencedevice is a first position reference device, the electronic devicefurther configured to: receive a list of disapproved position referencedevices through the graphical user interface; receive a position of asecond position reference device; and ignore the positioning assistancedata received from the second position reference device when the secondposition reference device is in the list of disapproved positionreference devices.
 17. The electronic device of claim 1 furthercomprising a graphical user interface, wherein the position referencedevice is a first position reference device, the electronic devicefurther configured to: receive a set of approved position referencedevice types through the graphical user interface; receive positioningassistance data from a second position reference device, the receivedpositioning assistance data comprising a type of the second positionreference device; and set the position of the electronic device to theposition of the second position reference device when the type of thesecond position reference device matches a type in the set of approvedposition reference device types.
 18. The electronic device of claim 17,wherein a position reference device type comprises at least one of astationary type, a moving type, and an indication of a communicationprotocol supported by the position reference device and the associatedtransmission power level.
 19. The electronic device of claim 1 furthercomprising a graphical user interface, the electronic device furtherconfigured to: receive a command through the graphical user interface todisable positioning calibration; disable positioning calibration inresponse to the receiving of the command; and ignore any positioningassistance data received from position reference devices whilepositioning calibration is disabled.
 20. The electronic device of claim1 further comprising a graphical user interface, wherein the positionreference device is a first position reference device, the electronicdevice further configured to: receive a set of time intervals forpositioning re-calibration through the graphical user interface; receivepositioning assistance data from a second position reference device, thepositioning assistance data received from the second position referencedevice comprising a position of the second position reference device;and set the position of the electronic device to the position of thesecond position reference device when a time the positioning assistancedata is received from the second position reference device is within theset of time intervals for positioning re-calibration.
 21. The electronicdevice of claim 1 further comprising a graphical user interface, whereinthe position reference device is a first position reference device, theelectronic device further configured to: receive a set of regions forpositioning re-calibration through the graphical user interface; receivepositioning assistance data from a second position reference device, thepositioning assistance data received from the second position referencedevice comprising a position of the second position reference device;and set the position of the electronic device to the position of thesecond position reference device only when the position of the secondposition reference device is within a region in the set of regionsspecified for positioning re-calibration.
 22. The electronic device ofclaim 1 further comprising a graphical user interface, the electronicdevice further configured to display the position of the electronicdevice on the graphical user interface.
 23. The electronic device ofclaim 1, wherein the electronic device is configured to receivepositioning assistant data from position reference devices located inone or more of a smart poster, a kiosk, an ATM machine, a mall, a storecheck out counter, a store security gate, a wireless access point, acellular base-station, a toll booth, a traffic light, and a street lamppost.
 24. The electronic device of claim 1 further configured to:receive positioning assistance data comprising a position of a positionreference device from each of a plurality of position reference devices;and set the position of the electronic device to a weighted sum of thereceived positions of the plurality of position reference devices. 25.The electronic device of claim 24 further configured to give weight tothe position of the position reference devices based on a communicationprotocol used between each position reference device and the electronicdevice, wherein when a first position reference device uses acommunication protocol that has a shorter range than a communicationprotocol used by a second position reference device, the position of thefirst position reference device receives a higher weight than theposition of the second position reference device.
 26. The electronicdevice of claim 24 further configured to give weight to the position ofthe position reference devices based on a distance between each positionreference device and the electronic device, wherein when a firstposition reference device is closer to the electronic device than asecond position reference device, the position of the first positionreference device receives a higher weight than the position of thesecond position reference device.